... WASHINGTON March 18 -- A study presented ... The scientific evidence of the safety and efficacy of UFE isirrefuta...Of the women who self-referred to interventional radiologists themaj... Women suffering with fibroids need to be given all of theiroptions--...

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A study presented today
at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting
shows of 105 patients in the Atlanta metro area, only 18 percent of the
women who saw a private practice gynecologist were told about uterine
fibroid embolization (UFE), a minimally invasive treatment for uterine
fibroids provided by interventional radiologists. UFE is a safe, effective
established treatment that has been widely available for the past decade
and is covered by insurance. The majority of women who sought treatment
from their private practice gynecologists for uterine fibroids were only
offered hysterectomy or myomectomy surgery, which is provided by
gynecologists. However, Kaiser Permanente, which standardizes many medical
protocols, has its gynecologists discuss all the treatment options with
their patients, including UFE.

"The scientific evidence of the safety and efficacy of UFE is
irrefutable. In medicine, we present the scientific proof at meetings like
this in large groups, but we implement these results as individual
physicians. Physicians need to incorporate UFE into the treatment algorithm
for patients suffering with uterine fibroids. The patient should not have
to be the one to suggest her treatment; that is the physician's
responsibility. Gynecologists need to be the ones taking the lead on this,
and I applaud Kaiser Permanente's gynecologists for being the only ones in
our area to consistently do this," said John Lipman, M.D., director of
interventional radiology at Emory-Adventist Hospital in Atlanta.

Of the women who self-referred to interventional radiologists, the
majority found out about UFE on their own primarily through the Internet or
through a media advertisement. In some cases, they obtained referrals from
their gynecologists, but only after asking about the treatment.

"Women suffering with fibroids need to be given all of their
options--not just the ones that gynecologists can offer. With UFE, my
patients are treated as outpatients, with no hospital stay. They go home
with a band-aid and on average recover in four to five days. Many of the
surgical patients after hysterectomy are still in the hospital by the time
my UFE patients have recovered, and these surgical patients still have six
to eight weeks of additional recovery at home," noted Lipman.

Of the 600,000 hysterectomies performed annually in the United States,
one-third of these are to relieve symptoms caused by benign fibroids.
Uterine fibroids are benign tumors that can cause prolonged, heavy
menstrual bleeding that can be severe enough to cause anemia or require
transfusion; disabling pelvic pain and pressure; urinary frequency; pain
during intercourse; miscarriage; interference with fertility; and an
abnormally large uterus -- resembling pregnancy.

Despite the long-term safety and efficacy of UFE, the hysterectomy
numbers in the United States have changed very little in the past decade.
It is interesting to note that of all of the available treatment options
for fibroids, the largest published series is the UFE National Fibroid
Registry, which has published information on the UFE treatment of more than
3,000 women. The three-year data from this trial was recently published in
the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Interventional radiology has
consistently published in gynecology journals to increase awareness of the
treatment.

Interventional radiologists can provide second opinions and assess
whether UFE is a treatment option. Interventional radiologists use MRI to
delineate the location of each fibroid, determine if a tumor can be
embolized, detect alternate causes for the symptoms, identify pathology
that could prevent a woman from having UFE and avoid ineffective
treatments. This cannot be determined by ultrasound imaging in the
gynecologist's office; interventional radiologists can help gynecologists
manage these patients.

Abstract 143, "Community Awareness of UAE as a Treatment Option for
Women Suffering With Symptomatic Fibroids," can be found at
http://www.SIRmeeting.org.

About Uterine Fibroid Embolization

Uterine fibroid embolization is performed by interventional
radiologists, physicians who specialize in minimally invasive treatments
and offer diagnostic and clinical experience across all specialties.
Embolization is a common interventional radiology treatment for benign and
cancerous tumors. With uterine fibroid embolization, an interventional
radiologist makes a tiny nick in the skin, about the size of a pencil tip
and inserts a catheter into the femoral artery. Using real-time imaging,
the physician guides the catheter up the artery and then releases tiny
particles, the size of grains of sand, into the blood vessels feeding the
fibroid, cutting off its blood supply and causing it to shrink and die and
symptoms to subside. Most women return home the next day and can resume
normal activities. There is less risk of serious complication with UFE, and
these complication rates are lower than those of hysterectomy and
myomectomy.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology

Interventional radiologists are physicians who specialize in minimally
invasive, targeted treatments. They offer the most in-depth knowledge of
the least invasive treatments available coupled with diagnostic and
clinical experience across all specialties. They use X-ray, MRI and other
imaging to advance a catheter in the body, usually in an artery, to treat
at the source of the disease internally. As the inventors of angioplasty
and the catheter-delivered stent, which were first used in the legs to
treat peripheral arterial disease, interventional radiologists pioneered
minimally invasive modern medicine.

Today many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less
invasively by interventional radiologists. Interventional radiology
treatments offer less risk, less pain and less recovery time compared to
open surgery. Visit http://www.SIRweb.org.

Local interviews, medical illustrations and broadcast-quality video
footage are available by contacting SIR's communications department at
MVerrillo@SIRweb.org. A UFE fact sheet and statistics can be found in the
Media section at SIRweb.org.

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